I once made the move from rep to dsm and have since continued to move on up, because that was the path that I wanted to take. It's certainly not for everyone, they are different skill sets. One is managing customers, the other is leading people. I will say that the "pains" of the job don't go away, they're just different pains. You still get to deal with all the day to day challenges that you mention above, just from a different vantage point. Plus, you get the added bonus of having a whole new set of challenges to deal with.

From pay standpoint, I suppose it depends on how successful of a rep you were. When I made the move, I took about a $40,000/yr cut. But I was willing to take that in exchange for quality of life and the path I wanted to take in my career. Your mileage may vary.

I was promoted to DSM back in the day when that position really managed the business. We actually produced sales budgets, planned sales meetings, worked closely with purchasing, finance, and operations, and were an important part of management. Today it seems much of that has been reduced to trying to help navigate your team through competing departments with the focus no longer on sales. Purchasing will no longer take phone calls, operations are on an island to themselves, and credit is cut and dry, no longer is there a team effort.However those changes are life. Today its a different world as always, and a young person aspiring to lead a team of sales reps is still a great move. All the rubbish about how it used to be is not hard wired into the younger DSM's.I would say go for it and enjoy the challenge, build your team and move forward.__________________Sidney

Good position but to my way of thinking back in the day was as a DSM my job was to defend my reps from the fools above me. I tried to run interference so they could sell. That was 1/3 of my job. Another 3rd was navigating the inside departments for them..purchasing...credit etc again so they could sell. The last 1/3 was customer service where i worked with my guys telling their customers how lucky they were to have said sales rep.Always protecting and promoting MY GUYS. Guys at the top hated it but if the wheels do t turn none of us are going anywhere. Good luck! Also helps your resume for later if you need to update your resume.

How much Kool-Aid are you willing to drink to be able to spout the party line? Can you stand attending DSM meetings where a**kissing is the order of the day?

At US Foods it's Scoop, E-commerce and Value Added Services. It's not about helping your troops sell anymore. It's about making sure everyone in your district is putting information in Sous on an hourly basis. It's riding with your people at least once a week so you can tell them whether or not they're being good little robots.

"This is what we want you to sell, and this is how we want you to sell it."

I have zero interest in becoming a dsm. First off you lose your leverage with your customers and have to trust some newbie or schmuck to take great care of the business you have spent years cultivating. A rep change is always one of the top opportunities for a vendor change. Mistakes become magnified. Secondly, you have to manage 8-10 reps, of which half will be a revolving door. You will constantly be interviewing, training, and riding with clueless new reps who will either quit or bleed out after a year or so. If they don’t gain momentum and confidence within the first six months, they will lose the will to “hunt”. And lastly, my dsm says I make more money then he does, so where’s the incentive? Build a great route and do a route split every few years to triple bonus your way back to sanity. Rinse and repeat!

Originally Posted by ISellLettuceI once made the move from rep to dsm and have since continued to move on up, because that was the path that I wanted to take. It's certainly not for everyone, they are different skill sets. One is managing customers, the other is leading people. I will say that the "pains" of the job don't go away, they're just different pains. You still get to deal with all the day to day challenges that you mention above, just from a different vantage point. Plus, you get the added bonus of having a whole new set of challenges to deal with.

From pay standpoint, I suppose it depends on how successful of a rep you were. When I made the move, I took about a $40,000/yr cut. But I was willing to take that in exchange for quality of life and the path I wanted to take in my career. Your mileage may vary.

I too did this back in the day and this is a great and educated response. Depending on what you write you can make considerably more as a sales rep.__________________ADAPT TO CHANGE OR BE CONSUMED BY CHANGE

Nice message. From a seasoned rep who has done very well....you have a choice.Mine was I was making way too much dough to go mgt.Glad I never did.Went to work every day and supported the mission.....mostly for my customers.But the dough is now gone. They want you to team up! So play the game or move on....My mentor 30+ years ago told me.... and I believe this still to be true....” you will not get rich working this job, but you will make a great living.”That has come true for me.And still enjoying the living.Please stay healthy.

You're right. The job we loved no longer exists. It used to be everyone had their own style of selling. Now it's "sell what we want you to sell, the way we want you to sell it". Selling in Los Angeles is not the same as selling in North Dakota. Glad I'm out. It's sad to see so many of my old friends struggling to put up with the new reality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bestdsrNice message. From a seasoned rep who has done very well....you have a choice.Mine was I was making way too much dough to go mgt.Glad I never did.Went to work every day and supported the mission.....mostly for my customers.But the dough is now gone. They want you to team up! So play the game or move on....My mentor 30+ years ago told me.... and I believe this still to be true....” you will not get rich working this job, but you will make a great living.”That has come true for me.And still enjoying the living.Please stay healthy.

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